A Doctor’s Remedy for Peace: Follow the Path of Nonviolence

By Connor Paul

Most people never fully experience life and death during their existence even though we all live, and eventually die. Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish has certainly encountered his fair share of both states of being. An internationally renowned doctor in obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. Abuelaish works to help conceive and deliver life on a daily basis. As an infertility expert, his work, research, speaking appearances, conferences, and counseling regarding the conception of life are all part of his effort to provide humanity the greatest gift we receive. “Using my skills to save a life or help a patient in distress or bring a newborn into the world was what I became most excited about,” he recalls of his preliminary studies at the University of Cairo in his memoir, I Shall Not Hate. But he has also grappled with death on a personal level that few of us have ever experienced.

Born and raised in Jabalia Camp, located within the Gaza Strip of the occupied-Palestinian territories (oPt), Dr. Abuelaish witnessed the death and destruction caused by the Israeli occupation throughout most of his life. From the Six-Day War of 1967 at age twelve through the Gaza War of 2008-2009 at age fifty-three, Dr. Abuelaish saw how a path to peace based on mistrust, hostility, revenge, and political maneuvering produces cycle after cycle of violence instead of lasting results.  “It seems humanity has still not learned their lesson,” he told me in our recent conversation. “Even though we are in the twenty-first century, we continue to try to solve our conflicts with wars and violence instead of working to find out their root causes.” This path of darkness taken up by both sides replaces nonviolence with coercion; coercion which directly impacts and destroys the lives of ordinary civilians.

On January 16, 2009, the violence finally touched Dr. Abuelaish and his family more tangibly than they could ever imagine.  Two days before the parties signed a truce ending the Gaza War of 2008-2009, an Israeli tank fired multiple rockets at his house.  Three of his daughters, Bessan (twenty-one), Mayar (fifteen), and Aya (thirteen) died instantly, as did his niece Noor (seventeen). The shelling also left his daughter, Shatha, his niece, Ghaida, and his brother, Nasser, critically injured. Innocent lives lost. A father in despair. A family overcome with grief. But just like the title of his memoir indicates, he refuses to hate.

After enduring such heartbreak, how does one prevent hate from seeping into their heart and filling them with a desire for revenge and violence? The answer lies in the emotion's corrosive abilities. Just like a cancer, it spreads throughout the body and ingrains itself deeply within, blinding those afflicted from being able to positively engage in conflict resolution. Dr. Abuelaish described the emotion of hatred to me in our recent conversation as, “a destructive, contagious, disease. It is most harmful to the one impacted by it as it is like a poison that weighs us down and prevents us from moving the dialogue forward.” Hate confines people to approach the reconciliation process from the path of darkness where ignorance, arrogance, and greed dictate the terms of negotiations. But there is a more humanistic path to achieving peace, a nonviolent path, a better path--the path of light.

Dr. Abuelaish embraced the path of light long ago which seeks to counter hate and violence by building upon commonalities that we share across humanity. From his endless hours in the maternity ward and intimate work with human life, he notices our commonalities as early as birth. “No one can discriminate or differentiate between the cry of a newborn baby. American, Palestinian, Israeli, male, or female, their cries cannot be distinguished from one another. But even more importantly, humanity has the same reaction to a newborn’s cry. Once we hear the cry of a newborn baby, we all smile because it is the cry of new life.” But even before beginning his medical career, Dr. Abuelaish learned very early on from his own life experiences how similar we all are across our different societies, including Israelis and Palestinians. At fifteen years old, he spent the summer in Israeli working on a Jewish family farm. In his memoir, he talks about the powerful impression the family left on him by not only how kindly they treated him, but also how similar they were to his own family. While working to resolve conflicts, the path of light helps illuminate all of our shared similarities that get obscured when we fixate on our differences.  When we are able to see the experiences, emotions, and values that so many of us have in common; we are able to come together to make lasting change that will better all of our societies. Dr. Abuelaish chose to construct his path of light and nonviolence on the strengthening of the solidarity that societies exhibit within the fields of healthcare, education, and the role women maintain. By building upon the shared values of these societal spheres, we will all be able to follow this path of pacifism to achieve a deeper understanding of one another’s situations, making peaceful resolutions much more obtainable in the future.

As a practitioner of medicine his whole professional career, Dr. Abuelaish sees how humanity’s shared worldview regarding the importance of healthcare can serve as a great starting point to begin constructive dialogue. Dr. Abuelaish rightfully pointed out to me that health is one of the few indiscriminatory “human equalizers” among our distinct societies. “When you go to any hospital and treat any patient there, all of them are treated equally. Treatment is not based on ethnicity, religion, skin color, gender, or name; it is based on the patient’s need and the physician’s diagnosis.” Just as doctors treat all their patients equally and humanely, we all need to learn to apply the same approach to our day-to-day interactions with each other. One of the most important aspects of good health is learning to coexist with one another in stable, peaceful, nonviolent environments. Dr. Abuelaish goes on to note, “Health is peace and peace is health. My health and my peace are linked to your health and your peace. I am not in an environment of good health and peace as long as you are not and vice versa.” More often than not though, the politics we implement on the ground, instead of the healthcare we provide, dictate and create the environments of our societies. These politics so frequently neglect the humanistic aspects of our cultures. We must learn to act based on the needs of the people, not the needs of our governments, as our fundamental needs cross borders and created shared experiences through which we can establish dialogue. “If I come to someone who is in labor and ask what is health, she would tell me a successful delivery; if I come to someone who is thirsty and ask what is health, they would tell me a drink of water; if I come to someone who is oppressed and ask what is health, they would tell me freedom.” Just like how we provide healthcare by listening to the needs of the people we strive to help; we must learn to reconcile our differences through the same measures.  Once we actually listen to and acknowledge the realities of our concerns through dialogue, will we then be able to follow the path of light in our efforts to achieve peace through humanity.

Education is just as important of a tool in Dr. Abuelaish’s humanistic approach to peace as it helps eradicate the hatred and discrimination that lead us down the path of darkness. “Education enlightens the people, it gives wisdom to the people, it allows us to see things outside of the box.” He then went on to wisely point out what happened regarding the public education campaign to quit smoking. “When people began to learn that smoking was harmful, what did they do, nothing? But once they began to educate themselves as public awareness of the dangers increased, they began to stop.” The same concept can be applied to hatred as we need to understand the dangers of the emotion.  It is our responsibility, as Dr. Abuelaish practices himself so often, to increase the awareness of how hatred and violence spread and to educate ourselves on their root causes.  But one of the most important aspects of education is that it not only brings people together, it allows us to learn from a diversity of perspectives. “Education is the passport that enables us to travel and cross this small world, it brings people together.” When we learn together, we share knowledge and experiences that help us reconcile our differences in a proactive, nonviolent way.

But to fully embrace a humanistic approach to peace, our governments and societies need to operate at their full capacities. By this notion, Dr. Abuelaish means we must involve women to participate in the resolution of conflicts to a much greater degree as their perspective provides invaluable input which is so often missing from the discussion. “Women symbolize the humanity, the passion, the love, and life itself; yet more often than not, they are not the ones involved in the decision-making, they are not the ones who wage the war…They do not wage war yet they bear most of the consequences from it.” When we fixate on statistics and numbers from violent conflicts, we so often overlook the wife left without a husband, the mother left without a son, sisters left without brothers. Females are so often the guardians of the house, where they defend what is theirs just as staunchly as men do in wars, but by projecting the values of love and compassion.  It is exactly this approach that is so often lacking in the decision making of executive offices, congresses, parliaments, and military headquarters. Dr. Abuelaish sees a quick fix to this problem. “the more we see women sitting at the table, being part of the decision-making, the world will be a better place.”  As the keepers of the family unit, females are so much more in touch with humanity than men and can use their perspective and experiences to overpower the hate and vitriol that so often cloud male-led reconciliation. Women are emblematic of following the path of light and serve as an example of how we should embrace nonviolence and humanity when we attempt to foster peace.

Dr. Abuelaish has delivered so many lives into this world, endured death so close to his heart, and yet he never deviates from the path of light. The hope that radiated from his tone when we spoke shows his unique ability to find the positive in bad situations. “We always have to see the positive, and during the bad we must maximize the positive and give hope.” Even in the tragic deaths of his daughters and niece, he managed to find the light and salvage life through the establishment of his ensuing foundation, Daughters for Life. The foundation provides scholarships and awards to young girls from the Middle East who seek to empower themselves and improve their lives through education. Dr. Abuelaish keeps the positivity of his daughters alive through his foundation, just like his tireless work in the maternity ward keeps alive the many babies he delivers or his embodiment of nonviolence and dialogue keeps alive the aspirations for peace in the Israel-Palestine conflict. By following the path of Dr. Abuelaish, we shed light on the path of darkness and make the road to peace much more visible and achievable.

Rivera Sun, syndicated by PeaceVoice, has written numerous books, including The Dandelion Insurrection. She is the editor of Nonviolence News and a nationwide trainer in strategy for nonviolent campaigns.

Here’s the good news: The debate is over. 75% of US citizens believe climate change is human-caused; more than half say we have to do something and fast. 

Here’s even better news: A new report shows that more than 200 cities and counties, and 12 states have committed to or already achieved 100 percent clean electricity. This means that one out of every three Americans (about 111 million Americans and 34 percent of the population) lives in a community or state that has committed to or has already achieved 100 percent clean electricity. Seventy cities are already powered by 100 percent wind and solar power. The not-so-great news is that many of the transition commitments are too little, too late. 

The best news? The story doesn’t end there.

We can all pitch in to help save humanity and the planet. And I don’t mean just by planting trees or changing light bulbs. Climate action movements are exploding in numbers, actions, and impact.  Groups like Youth Climate Strikes, Extinction Rebellion, #ShutDownDC, the Sunrise Movement, and more are changing the game.  Join in if you haven’t already. As Extinction Rebellion reminds us: there’s room for everybody in an effort this enormous. We all make change in different ways, and we’re all needed to make all the changes we need.

Resistance is not futile. As the editor of Nonviolence News, I collect stories of climate action and climate wins. In the past month alone, the millions of people worldwide rising up in nonviolent action have propelled a number of major victories. The University of British Columbia divested $300 million in funds from fossil fuels. The world’s largest public bank ditched fossil fuels and said it would no longer invest in oil and coal. California cracked down on oil and gas fracking permits halting new drilling wells as the state prepares for a renewable energy transition. New Zealand passed a law to put the climate crisis at the front and center of all its policy considerations (the first such legislation in the world). The second-largest ferry operator on the planet is switching from diesel to batteries in preparation for a renewable transition. Re-affirming their anti-pipeline stance, Portland, Oregon city officials told Zenith Energy that they would not reverse their decision, and instead would continue to block new pipelines. Meanwhile, in Portland, Maine, the city council joined the ever-growing list endorsing the youths’ climate emergency resolution. Italy made climate change science mandatory in school. And that’s just for starters.

Is it any wonder Collins Dictionary made “climate strike” the Word of the Year?

Beyond planting trees and changing lightbulbs, here’s a list of things you can do about the climate crisis:

1. Join Greta Thunberg, Fridays for the Future, and the global Student Climate Strikes on Fridays.

2. Not a student? Join Jane Fonda’s #FireDrillFridays (civil disobedience is the latest workout fad; everybody looks good saving the planet).

3. Take to the field, like the students who disrupted the Harvard-Yale football game to demand fossil fuel divestment. You can’t play football on a dead planet, after all.

4. Stage an “oil spill” like these 40 members of Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard (FFDH) and Extinction Rebellion. They staged an oil spill in Harvard’s Science Center Plaza to call attention to the university’s complicity in the climate crisis.   

5. Get in the way with city-wide street blockades like #ShutDownDC. People from an alliance of groups blockaded the banks and investment firms in the nation’s capital to protest the financing of fossil fuels, and the ways the banking industry drives the climate migration crisis while profiting from the devastation.

6. Rally the artists and paint giant murals to remind people to take action, like this skyscraper-sized Greta Thunberg mural in San Francisco.

7. No walls handy? Print out a scowling Greta and put it in the office to remind people not to use single-use plastic.

8. Crash Congress (or your city/county officials’ meetings) demanding climate legislation, climate emergency resolutions, and more. That’s what these climate justice activists did last week, protesting legislative inaction and demanding justice for people living on the front lines of the crisis. 

9. Occupy the offices: Sit-ins and occupations of public officials offices are one way to take the protest to the politicians. Campaigners occupied US Senator Pelosi’s office and launched their global hunger strike just before US Thanksgiving weekend. In Oregon, 21 people were arrested while occupying the governor’s office to get her to oppose a fracked gas export terminal at Jordan Cove.

10. Organize a coal train blockade like climate activists in Ayers, Massachusetts. They made a series of multi-wave coal train blockades, one group of protesters taking up the blockade as the first group was arrested. Or rally thousands like the Germans did when they gathered between 1,000-4,000 green activists, made their way past police lines, and blocked trains at three important coal mines in eastern Germany.

11. Shut down your local fossil fuel power plant. (We’ve all got one.) New Yorkers did this dramatically a few weeks ago, scaling a smokestack and blockading the gates. In New Hampshire, 67 climate activists were arrested outside their coal power plant, calling for it to be shut down.

12. Of course, another option is to literally take back your power like this small German town that took ownership of their grid and went 100 percent renewable.

13. Like Spiderman? You could add some drama to a protest like these two kids (ages 8 and 11) who rappelled down from a bridge with climbing gear and a protest banner during COP25 in Madrid.

14. Ground the private jets. Extinction Rebellion members went for the gold: they blockaded a private jet terminal used by wealthy elites in Geneva.

15. Sail a Sinking House down the river like Extinction Rebellion did along the Thames to show solidarity with all those who have lost their homes to rising seas.

16. Clean it up. Use mops, brooms, and scrub brushes for a “clean up your act” protest like the one Extinction Rebellion used at Barclay’s Bank branches.

17. Blockade pipeline supply shipments like Washington activists did to stall the expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline. 

18. Catch the eye with a Red Brigade Funeral Procession like this one during the Black Friday climate action protests in Vancouver.

19. Tiny House Blockades: Build a tiny house in the path of the pipelines, like these Indigenous women are doing to thwart the Trans Mountain Pipeline in Canada. 

20. Make a racket with a pots-and-pans protest. Cacerolazos – pots and pans banging protests – erupted in 12 Latin American countries last week. The media focused on government corruption and economic justice as the cause, but in many nations, including Chile and Bolivia, climate and environmental justice are included in the protesters demands. 

21. Share this article. Action inspires more action. Hearing these examples – and the successes – gives us the strength to rise to the challenges we face. You can help stop the climate crisis by sharing these stories with others. (You can also connect to 30-50+ stories of nonviolence in action by signing up for Nonviolence News’ free weekly enewsletter.)

Plus! Here’s a bonus idea from friends at World Beyond War: Connect peace and climate, militarism and environmental destruction, by pressuring your local government to divest from both weapons and fossil fuels, like Charlottesville, VA, did last year, and Arlington,VA, is working on right now. 

Remember: all these stories came from the Nonviolence News articles I’ve collected in just the past 30 days! These stories should give you hope, courage, and ideas for taking action. There’s so much to be done, and so much we can do! Joan Baez said that “action is the antidote to despair”. Don’t despair. Organize.

Rivera Sun, editor of Nonviolence News, the author of The Dandelion Insurrection and other novels, and a nationwide trainer in strategy for nonviolent movements. www.riverasun.com

This story was produced by Metta Center for Nonviolence

And posted on Waging Nonviolence 

There’s a secret to success for nonviolent movements for change: solidarity. Instead of “going it alone,” movements can amplify their message, leverage collective power, and build strength by seeking solidarity from aligned organizations and groups. Movements can also mobilize thousands of people into tangible, game-changing strategies by consciously designing solidarity actions to support their primary campaign.

Look at Oakland’s Solidarity Schools. During the 2019 Oakland Teachers Strike, a team of volunteers got involved in a much-needed solidarity action: delivering lunches to school children. In Oakland, California, 75 percent of the district’s 37,000 students relied on school lunch. Not wanting the kids to go hungry; the food bank, parents, teachers, and students worked together to organize and distribute lunches for the duration of the strike. This helped the teachers maintain their refusal to work without dividing the community over hunger issues. Solidarity efforts also included alternative schooling and child care. After several weeks, the teachers won their radical demands that ultimately benefited the entire community.

Solidarity strategies can increase the chance of success for your campaign by widening the impact of your actions. Recently in Nonviolence News, I reported on a story from Finland. Postal workers went on strike for two weeks, but their victory wasn’t won by the massive backlog of undelivered holiday packages. The clincher on their struggle occurred when the airline and transport industry workers held a solidarity (or sympathy) strike, grounding over three hundred planes and causing chaos in the capital. As the strike impacted businesses and people across the country, the head of the postal service came under fire for mishandling the postal workers’ strike. The workers won their demands, thanks to the solidarity of other transport workers.

Nonviolent struggle succeeds or fails by the rate of participation in actions that tangibly impact the ability of the power holders to conduct business-as-usual. In fact, studies show that any movement that successfully mobilizes 3.5 percent of the populace into acts of noncooperation (boycotts, strikes, walk-outs) and intervention (blockades, sit-ins, occupations) always wins their campaign. And, sometimes, success comes with even fewer people. So, scheming up those solidarity strategies makes a lot of sense for your movement.

Take Standing Rock, for example. Not everyone could leave their jobs and families, pitch a tent in freezing weather, and take a physical stand against the Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL, in North Dakota. But all of us could support the legal fund, organize supply caravans, and (perhaps most importantly) take action against the 17-plus banks funding the Dakota Access Pipeline. Across the country and around the world, the protests outside of bank branches gave those of us horrified by the scenes of police repression at Standing Rock a way to turn outrage into action. We held signs. We delivered petitions and confronted bank managers. We organized our friends and colleagues to move our money and close our accounts. This put powerful pressure on the banks, forcing some to pull out of the DAPL project. While the pipeline at Standing Rock moved forward, a cascade of other fossil fuel projects lost their funding both in the United States and around the world. Also, the efforts during the Standing Rock campaign gave a boost to other fossil fuel divestment campaigns, leading to a ripple effect of institutional divestment. With greater mobilization around the solidarity strategy of moving our money out of the banks, we might have been able to defeat that pipeline project entirely.

The successes of the early U.S. labor movement relied heavily on solidarity and their solidarity actions were breath-taking in scope and generosity. To use just one of hundreds of examples, during the 1912 Bread and Roses strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Bill Haywood and others organized massive support for the striking women. The solidarity efforts included relief committees, soup kitchens, food distribution stations, volunteer doctors, and weekly benefits for strikers. The list of demands was translated into over 50 languages for the multi-national immigrant workers. The most dramatic of solidarity actions was arranging for several hundred children of striking workers to go to supporters’ homes in New York City. This kept the children safe, housed, and fed while their mothers faced arrests, evictions, reduced income, and beatings for participating in the strike.

These tangible forms of solidarity can mean the difference between success and failure. Showing support for the cause with demonstrations can also boost morale and determination. Just this past week, cacerolazos (pots-and-pans banging protests) erupted in twelve Latin and South American countries, including Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador. The united demonstration was organized to acknowledge the shared struggles of the people against widespread economic inequality, corrupt governments, and violence against Indigenous populations. Organizers even distributed a cacerolazo app – in case you weren’t by your kitchen, you could join in with a cellphone simulation.

Occasionally, solidarity actions up the ante on issues, and connect immediate crises to the underlying causes. In the wake of the massive Australian bushfires, citizens chose to do more than send blankets and meals to those who lost their homes. Rejecting the “sending thoughts and prayers” rhetoric of the politicians, Australians organized solidarity sit-downs to demand disaster relief and climate action. In this way, they went beyond simply calling for relief while ignoring the root cause: they connected the fires to global warming, and the human-made climate crisis.

For movement organizers, thinking about solidarity strategies ahead of time can improve your organizing. Who are the people who can stand up for your cause? What allies can’t be arrested, but would love to help organize relief efforts for those who can? What sectors of society could engage in solidarity strikes or walk-outs to broaden your impact? Who can demonstrate to boost the morale of those taking direct action? What groups align with your cause and could have a direct impact on your power holders? What could those groups do to pressure them?

These are important questions for all of us to ask. Get creative with the answers. Solidarity comes in a million shapes and sizes, and it can be the secret to success.

This past weekend, Nonviolence International attended the annual UN Humanitarian Disarmament Forum in New York City. The Executive Director Michael Beer and the Director of the Canadian Office Yeshua Moser attended along with interns Alyssa Scott and Roisin Putti. The forum was hosted by the Columbian Campaign to Ban Landmines and consisted of several presentations and panels as well as both large and small group discussions. Several of Nonviolence International’s partners and affiliates were also represented at the forum such as PAX Netherlands, Control Arms, and some member organizations of International Action Network on Small Arms. Also present were International Network on Explosive Weapons, Mwatana Organization for Human Rights, Conflict and Environment Observatory, Humanity Inclusion, Armed Conflict & Civilian Protection Initiative, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, Cluster Munition Coalition and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. The goal of the forum throughout the years has been to share information about campaigns and efforts working for humanitarian disarmament around the globe.

Some of the topics discussed were the importance of maintaining and monitoring existing disarmament treaties as well as looking to the future towards preventing the development and use of autonomous weapons. One concern about autonomous weapons, or killer robots, is that they may not necessarily be regulated under existing treaties or international agreements. A main goal of many of the organizations and campaigns represented at the forum is to continue the discussion of disarmament using a victim or survivor centered approach for understanding both the effects of violence and what effective disarmament might look like. Victims and survivors of armed violence have been leaders in the movements to ban the weapons around the world; several such leaders were present either physically or virtually at the forum. Jesus Martinez for example, spoke about his work with the Survivors and People with Disabilities Network and why disarmament is important to him as well as the work he has been doing to advocate for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

One challenge for the humanitarian disarmament effort is to make the global banning and regulations of weapons’ treaties more accessible to the public, to make them better known and to provide citizens entry points for advocacy and implementation at local, provincial, national and international levels. One solution to this has been the release of an informative brochure on the subject, Humanitarian Disarmament which was co-produced by PAX. Nonviolence International also maintains a data set which lists the signatory status of each state in regards to international disarmament treaties. With efforts like these and our extensive resource library, there is certainly hope to realize our vision justice peace and nonviolent solutions to conflict.

Nonviolence International is celebrating 30 years since its humble beginnings in the founder's basement back in 1989. We have come a long way since then and we are excited to provide an update on the success of our 30th anniversary party. Nonviolence International's founders, Mubarak Awad, Jonathan Kuttab, and staff, Michael Beer and David Hart gathered along with friends and supporters at our co-director’s home in Bethesda, Maryland for an afternoon of food, conversation and inspiration. The atmosphere was light and happy, all who mingled found bright smiles, lively personalities, and stimulating conversation.

People attended from Burma, Kurdistan, Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, Indonesia, Bahamas, France, and the US. Mubarak Awad and others prepared delicious traditional Middle Eastern and Indonesian dishes including hummus with pita or vegetables, spinach pies, fresh fruit, and scrumptious sweets. Guests explored several mementos from Nonviolence International’s history such as past projects, photographs, and various resources that have been collected throughout the decades. Some materials were available to be taken home by guests including pamphlets produced by Nonviolence International describing different nonviolent resistance tactics, pins with messages of active nonviolence or peace, and copies of the book Faithful Witness by Kamal Boullata. Further, all attendees were entered into a raffle with the third prize being two selected books about nonviolent action, while second prize was a book about activism concerning climate change and a decorative pillow, and first prize was a beautiful piece of Palestinian pottery from Jerusalem. Finally there was a silent auction of signed prints donated to the organization by one of its founders who had recently passed away, Kamal Boullata. Several pieces sold through the auction, though there are still two available for purchase. Inquiries into the pricing or purchasing of the remaining prints can be directed to the Washington D.C. office of Nonviolence International.

Several speeches were given at the event to highlight stories from our past, the people who have made Nonviolence International's work possible over the years, and to look forward to exciting new projects. Mubarak Awad, Michael Beer, David Hart, and Jonathan Kuttab spoke on the rich history of Nonviolence International as well as our hopes for a vibrant future. Many of the people in attendance were involved with Nonviolence International in significant ways such as  Betty Sitka, Asna Husin, Nadine Bloch, Paul Magno, Phil Bogdonoff, Elin Ross, Simon Billenness, and Dr. Sein Win. We also heard from two of our interns, Alyssa Scot and Tiffany Schwartz, who spoke about the need for nonviolent campaigns to address the climate crisis, and the establishment of the Abdul Aziz Said Scholarship Fund for interns in the wake of the student debt crisis. 

Nonviolence International celebrated many accomplishments and is working to support a new generation of nonviolence leaders to address chronic and emerging challenges. Now more than ever, Nonviolence International remains steadfast in our mission to realize a changed world with a focus on justice, peace, and environmental sanity where the worth and dignity of all people is fully realized and conflicts are resolved without resorting to violence.

In recognition to lifelong contributions to peace by Professor Abdul Aziz Said, Nonviolence International has started a new program under which interns will receive stipends for their service. This financial aid is provided to perpetuate the legacy of Abdul Aziz Said, who co-founded Nonviolence International in 1989 and devoted his life to inspiring students to promote peace and global understanding. In particular, this scholarship will ensure that international students and those of modest financial means will have an equal opportunity to gain professional experience. 

Abdul Aziz Said is a world renowned educator. He is a Syrian-born writer and was a professor of international relations in the School of International Service at American University where he taught for 60 years. He was the first occupant of the endowed Mohammed Said Farsi Chair of Islamic Peace; director-emeritus and founder of AU's Center for Global Peace; and founding director of the International Peace and Conflict Resolution department at the School of International Service. Professor Said has written or edited over a dozen books and has been published in many journals. 

In 1989, he co-founded Nonviolence International with AU adjunct professor Dr. Mubarak Awad and then served on the board for 30+ years. In 2007 he was awarded the first El-Hibri Peace Education Prize. What can’t be captured in this remarkable career is his deep impact on thousands of students through his charismatic and humble character and the countless careers he inspired devoted to a more just and peaceful world.

Nonviolence International has a storied history of promoting nonviolent action, reconciliation and disarmament and is an NGO in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

American University students and graduates will have priority.  Internships are for 12 to 14 weeks in the summer, autumn and winter.  This internship is based in Washington, DC.  Interns must be able to dedicate 15-20 hours per week on average to their assigned work. Each intern will have her/his time split between nonviolence research, non-profit management, and educational outreach.  Students must provide a final report evaluating their experience.

Potential donors to this scholarship fund can reach out to Nonviolence International for further information, or send donations by following this link

On October 2, 2019, the staff and interns of Nonviolence International along with the support of various other organizations were committed to making sure the one year anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi death did not go unnoticed and to demand further accountability.

One year earlier to the day, Washington Post journalist and permanent U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered upon entering the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.  The brutality of the murder shocked the world and revealed the heinous extremes that the Saudi Arabian regime would go to in an attempt to silence its dissidents. Crown Prince and heir-apparent Mohammed Bin Salman has denied any involved in the gruesome act as the international community has stood by and done nothing to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the murder.  Countries around the world, specifically the United States, have not only accepted the Crown Prince's denial, but have continued to sell weapons to the kingdom to help sustain their involvement in the Yemeni Civil War which has sparked one of the worst humanitarian crises witnessed.

Yesterday our organization, alongside the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Code Pink, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), and Justice for Jamal, stood together outside of the Saudi Arabian Washington DC embassy to hold a press conference in remembrance of the esteemed journalist's murder.  Representing our organization as a speaker was one of our co-founders, renowned international human rights attorney Jonathan Kuttab. Amidst the condemnation of the Saudi Arabian regime and lack of accountability from the international community, Jonathan convened the theme of hope in his speech as he called on the institutions of society to hold our leaders to a higher standard.  Jonathan called on institutions such as the courts, civil society groups, the press, and most importantly, ordinary individuals to stand up for human rights and redouble our efforts to bring accountability to those who suppress such freedoms.  Ending on an optimistic note, Jonathan notes that those who engage in violence and suppression will not win the hearts and minds of the world, but rather that victory will be claimed by those who advocate for accountability and justice through nonviolent resistance. 

"We must fight with the weapons of light against the weapons of darkness." ~ Jonathan Kuttab

How cool is this? Mural in Sudan thanking supporters. 

As some of you may know, Nonviolence International has been collaborating closely with brave nonviolent activists working in Sudan. We just received this amazing photo of a mural that was recently completed. We are told this is at the crossroads of major roads that connect Khartoum North with Omdurman in Sudan. 

The mural displays the names of friends and allies who have supported the nonviolent movements in Sudan during their time of crisis. You will see the names of:

Michael Beer - Director of Nonviolence International.

Stephen Zunes - Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco with a concentration in strategic nonviolence. Long time supporter and colleague of NVI.

Michael Nagler - President of the Metta Center for Nonviolence Education, and Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Long time support of NVI.

Stephanie Van Hook - Executive Director of the Metta Center.

Steve Williamson - Human rights activist and educator.

Walter Turner - Host of Radio, KPFK, about Africa and the African Diaspora.

Pramila Jayapal - Washington State representative in Congress and Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus.

Michael Beer and NVI provided support for the people of Sudan by

• Offering webinars on nonviolent resistance seen by 350,000 people.
• Spoke at major Sudan protests in Washington, DC.
• Provided expert testimony for a Congressional briefing on Sudan,
• Provided daily coaching for some of the mediators from May through July.
• Raising humanitarian funds for the nonviolent resistance.

We have co-founded a new Sudanese network called Madania. This is a network of Sudanese educators who want to promote civic education in Sudan.  After being under a dictator for 30 years, many people don’t know how to participate in their own governance. Madania will be mapping the extent of civic education (human rights, nonviolence, voter, political party, etc) efforts in Sudan, begin creating networks of Sudanese civic educators, and provide a vehicle on the internet for mass education on citizen empowerment. Please support us monthly as we continue our Sudanese solidarity work.

We thank the Sudanese for creating and sharing this beautiful mural and for the deep and lasting impact their brave, creative, and constructive witness has had on all of us.

In these challenging times, the Sudanese people inspire us to keep focused on the much needed transformation in our own society.  

Mubarak Awad welcomes new NVI Interns

Today, we had a blast when our founder, Mubarak Awad, came to the office to welcome our inspiring new NVI Interns.  

Prof. Awad spoke to our team in DC and to our awesome colleagues in NYC via Skype. Seemed all sides enjoyed time together. 

Powerful reflections on a lifetime of bold, beautiful, nonviolent activism and the challenges we face today. 

The conversation was enhanced by insightful questions from emerging leaders who will take this vision into an uncertain future. To secure their future on a peaceful, just, environmental sane planet, we believe nonviolence must expand rapidly. 

Photos below show same moment from two different perspectives. 

For those who want a deeper look into his strategic thinking on the power of nonviolence in even the world's most challenging conflicts, please check out this article on Nonviolent Resistance in the Occupied Territories.

If you or someone you know is interested in interning at Nonviolence International, please visit our Internship page.

To join us in supporting this vital work, please donate here.